Former SR-71 Blackbird Pilot Recalls 'Time Travel' Flight from Japan to California
A former U.S. Air Force SR-71 Blackbird pilot, David Peters, recounted a unique flight experience where he landed at Beale Air Force Base in California almost a day before he departed from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. Peters took off on a Saturday morning at 10:00 from Kadena, flew a mission through the Korean DMZ, refueled over the Sea of Japan, proceeded north past the Sea of Okhotsk and Kamchatka, refueled again off Adak in the Aleutian Islands, and then landed at Beale AFB. After completing post-flight procedures, he arrived at the officers' club at 16:30 on Friday afternoon. This 'time travel' phenomenon was due to crossing the International Date Line at speeds exceeding Mach 3, effectively arriving 17.5 hours before his departure time by the clock. The SR-71, conceptualized as a high-speed spy aircraft, could reach speeds past Mach 3 at altitudes of 85,000 feet and was never shot down during its operational history.